Daejeon Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital Struggles with Doctor Shortage

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City is struggling with the issue of recruiting doctors ahead of the opening of the public children's rehabilitation hospital. Despite three rounds of doctor recruitment efforts, the number of applicants has been far from sufficient. Although the city plans to improve working conditions and recruit doctors again, it is difficult to guarantee that recruitment will meet expectations due to the hospital's unique characteristics.

A bird's-eye view of the 'Public Children's Rehabilitation Hospital' building scheduled to open next month in Gwanjeo-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon. Provided by Daejeon City

According to the city on the 24th, the public children's rehabilitation hospital will open nationwide for the first time in Daejeon at the end of next month. The city began construction of the hospital in December 2020 in Gwanjeo-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, with a scale of two basement floors and five above-ground floors (70 beds). As of this month, the construction progress rate is 93%, with final construction underway.

The city plans to complete all construction by the end of this month, conduct trial operations, and officially start hospital operations from the end of next month. Chungnam National University Hospital will manage the hospital operations, and after opening, it is expected that about 6,000 disabled children in the Chungcheong region will be able to use the facility.

The problem is that recruiting doctors to work at the hospital is not proceeding smoothly. The hospital requires six doctors: two in rehabilitation medicine, one in pediatrics, one in dentistry, and two on-duty doctors.

The city has issued recruitment announcements for doctors three times recently. However, only one rehabilitation medicine doctor has been recruited so far.

Nonetheless, the city is determined not to delay the hospital's opening. The plan is to start initial hospital operations by deploying the one recruited rehabilitation medicine doctor and the hospital director, who specializes in rehabilitation medicine, for medical services, along with one doctor supported by Chungnam National University Hospital, which will manage the hospital operations.

Aside from doctors, the recruitment status of other medical staff is not bad. Currently, the city is negotiating with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to utilize two infectious disease epidemiologists (public health doctors) as on-duty doctors.

Additionally, recruitment of seven special education teachers to teach children admitted to the daytime ward and 18 nurses has been completed, and considering that the hiring process for physical therapists and others who will assist with rehabilitation is in its final stages, the city judges that there is no need to postpone the opening.

Regarding doctor recruitment, the city plans to respond by improving working conditions. Next week, the city will announce the fourth recruitment, increasing the annual salary for doctors to between 250 million and 300 million KRW. From the fourth recruitment onward, the city plans to conduct ongoing recruitment without a fixed period.

However, it remains difficult to guarantee that doctor recruitment will proceed smoothly. This is because the shortage of doctors is a nationwide issue, not just in Daejeon, and due to the hospital's nature, it is hard to predict the workload and other factors in advance. Additionally, the burden of treating disabled children is expected to deter many applicants.

A city official said, "The shortage of doctors has become a nationwide issue, and the fact that the hospital to be opened is the nation's first dedicated hospital for disabled children seems to be a factor causing hesitation among applicants. However, since the hospital has been established through a difficult process, the city will not delay the opening."

He added, "Recently, some doctors have inquired about recruitment, so the city will actively pursue doctor recruitment before and after the opening to ensure that hospital operations proceed without disruption."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.